Alfred the Great was as the
title suggests a great man but in more ways that one. Not only did he save
Anglo-Saxon England from the Danes but he was also a great scholar and
established schools, he founded the English navy and united the many Kingdoms
that made up the Country that is now England. It could therefore be said that he
was the Father of England.

He lived in the same era as
the famous King Canute and the unfortunately named Ethelred the unready. He was
a devoutly religious man who believed that the Danes had been sent by God as a
punishment.

His Kingdom was Wessex and
his capital Winchester. Although there is nothing left of Alfred's capital there
is a large statue to him in the middle of the City the inscription is printed
below.